Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1887-01-03
A Night i'm COlinda.

tain that night has shortened my
life, and if l naTrste here s few of
the incidents we met with IT IS simply
IS warning to any OF nv readers
against leaving the beaten paths Of
every day life and virtue.
VIII Purvist Is my dearest friend
socislly he Is $ solicitors clerk in a
north county town which shall be
called Blank. For the same obvious
reason the name l have given him Is
not 10 be found in his certificate OF
birth. Ny own name is-well. Nor
yal Shepherd. and l am in the prime
ipal hank in town.
L don't remember how it first
arose I know we were very busy
in our respectise callings. and dare
not on any sccount ask for 4 holiday
but that was not ali. | am afraid |
must confess that what gave rise 10
our adventure was (nOw | look back
upon IT'D a most contemplate spirit
OF brava6o. fostered by the taunts
and chafe of select circle OF featb-
er Drained friends. At any rate We
pledged ourselves 10 see all that could
BE- seen of the colonial exhibition in
London between that present day.
Tuesday. and the following Thurs
dav. without leaving our work. for
single hour. OF course II was under
stood that We must tIy and see it by
night. 1 had not been in London
for years. and Will bsd never been
there in his life
On Wednesday l could always
leave At four. and On that particular
Wednesday VIII had to leave the Of
fee Al three, 10 see a client al some
distance. and bring his Instructions
10 the office the next day He ar
ranged 70 hurry over this, and then
take the train in from the village
where his client lived TO The first
stopping station OF the London ex-
press. Here Iwas 10 pick him up
At few minutes past five. therefore.
that Wednesday afternoon. L was
speeding south with two return tick
cts in ny pocket. two small dark
lanterns and good supply Of match
es
At y VIII turned up all right.
and IN the widest of spirits He had
succeeded in his negotiations, and
was certain TO be highly praised by
bis firm. Tt was after s O'Clock
when We were rattling across Lon |
don. and 5 :35 O'Clock when We pass
ed through the turnstiles at the Al
bert hall. the ticket collector raising
his eyebrows when we paid at that /
hour five shilIings for admittance.
Suddenly the whole gardens out
side. hitherto lighted only by the sill |
very moon. burst into blaze of |
lamps twinkliug Ike glow-Eorms
from branch and leaf and turf lamps /
outlining the whole buildings. clusters
Of lamps in the air and the ground /
everywhere. dazzling and brilliant in /
the extreme. But why speak Of /
that which all know? | must hurry /
on. At 8 10 O'Clock We had finish /
ed an excellent cup Of tea. pOcketed /
e couple of rolls, and sailed out into
the grounds, feeling Ike 8 giant re-
freshed-
The crowd was still very dense /
and We had great difficulty in making /
our way along TO the great block Of 4
buildings across the gardens. At
the entrance where the crowd was 1
streaming IN, on their way out OF the
exhibition. | suppose. Ne were rather i
discouraged hy the apparition of
burly policeman and a shaFp-lOoking
official labelled .scolind' on his cap,
who was making q terrible havoc of
the cigars, allowing no lights to pass.
Norval, whispered Will, l don't
ike the looks of that man. | hope
We may get out of this all right. |
rather wish We hadn come up.
The smiling faces of the girls be-
hind the refreshment counter, how
ever. soon reassured Us, in spite Of
their hideous dress, evidently the or
iginal costume Of the s.now extinct
female beefeater-black shaded with
yellow. like wasps- Only five min
utes more We should be locked IN.
We walked along at haphazzard and
got among a lot Of huge Canadian
threshiBg machines.
Here We are. SoTval. Up you go.
said VIII, darling between two OF
them.
/ followed in an instant Not a
soul was within sight In moment
We had climbed into the hopper Of
one Of the largest Two minutes af-
ter all the lights went out like one
man. and the scene was changed.
Instead Of the cheerfully Illuminated
galleries and corridors. we were ia
ghost-Iand- The fantastic shape Of
these huge machines stood ont in
weird outline in the moonlight, while
an artistic arrangement Of the sauce
pans and frying pans shone like bur
nished silver on the wall
Rather awkward place this. when
the machinery IS in motion, Soryai.
les, In afraid Jon and | would
come oat chat. replied. in whis-
per.
Excepting M corn. Norval. wIlieh